ZIP 78549 vs ZIP 78542

This side-by-side compares ZIP 78549 (Hargill, TX) and ZIP 78542 (Edinburg, TX) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 78549 has a population of 990 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 78542 has 63,293 at 144 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 78549 reports a median household income of $19,222 against $55,243 in ZIP 78542, with per-capita income of $13,704 vs $19,389. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.2% in 78549 and 12.8% in 78542. Poverty rate reads 66.3% vs 30.4%, and unemployment 11.5% vs 9.7% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $75,400 in 78549 versus $150,200 in 78542, with median rent of — and $865 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.5% vs 75.7%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.